More About Lauren Faust's Super Best Friends Forever

Over on io9, there is a great article and interview with Lauren Faust about her upcoming SBFF shorts on the DC Nation block. Here is the link to the article:
http://io9.com/5887051/how-my-little-ponys-lauren-faust-will-make-you-love-batgirl-and-supergirl-all-over-again

Faust seems to 'get it' and even those these are really going to be shorts (around a minute), it sounds like the characterization will be right on. Here is what she had to say about Supergirl.

In terms of reinventing these characters, she built on what she'd seen in the comics, and embellished on it. For example, she imagined Supergirl as out to prove herself. Everybody in the world knows who Superman is, but not everybody knows about Supergirl. And even though both Kryptonians have the same powers and com e from the same place, everybody treats Supergirl like "chopped liver" compared to the celebrated Kal-El. "She doesn't get the same amount of attention" as her cousin, notes Faust. "If you were going to apply that to a real teenage girl, she'd probably be pretty mad. She's really got something to prove."

I really like this take on Supergirl, making her more determined than ever. I hope the 'chopped liver' part doesn't stand out too much. But part of Supergirl's characterization has always been trying to live up to the S-shield as well as stepping out of Superman's shadow.

And it has been tackled before in comics. From the earliest issues where Supergirl was kept hidden, to Paul Kupperberg (in Superman #376 above) having her consciously become her own person, to Gates and Peaty having her be the role model for her generation, Supergirl has always had to prove something to herself and others and has (for the most part) succeeded. And part of that has been stepping out of Superman's shadow. That sentiment certainly explains the 'can do' attitude we see in the Faust pic above.

Faust goes on to talk about how Batgirl is something of a fangirl having grown up around the Bat family. And here she talks about BFF's friendship.

And unlike some other depictions of superpowered teens, Faust sees these characters as real friends who "are supportive." There will be three supervillains featured in the series, but the focus will really be on the three girls who are friends with each other and their relationship, and how much fun they have being superheroes.

I am glad that they will always have each others' backs. This is Trinity:The Next Generation. So I am glad that they will always help each other out, even if their personalities are different.

So let's start guessing about the villains. Will they be BFF versions of Trinity villains? Or their own. I would love to see Nasty Luthor as Supergirl's foil. Please let me be right!

And then what? The Cheetah? The Silver Swan? Catgirl? Duela Dent? All could translate well into a cartoon like this. The mind boggles!

And then Faust talks about her ambitions and My Little Pony.

It's been my personal lifelong career ambition to make great entertainment for girls, and about girls. And you know, when it's really good, I think it transcends gender, and people other than girls will watch that. And we've seen a little bit of evidence for that with the fanbase for My Little Pony — the really surprising fanbase for My Little Pony. 

So I guess I have to call my self a Brony. When the Supergirls at home told me they thought I would enjoy MLP, I had my doubts. But this show is must see TV for all of us. And I can't get me enough of Rainbow Dash.

But the show works on multiple levels. One thing that I do like is that the main characters here, though very different, really are friends and help each other. I can't help but think that same vibe is going to happen on the Super BFF shorts.

As much as I am looking forward to this, I have seen clips of the Larry Drake Negative Man, Shade the Changing Man, and Amethyst. And I have always liked Young Justice. So this whole block seems like a can't miss.